Literopolis: A Weekly Look at Portland Literary Events, April 20-26
Monday, April 20, 2015
Second order of business – Portland’s very own Late Night Library will be hosting a new kind of literary event this Wednesday, in the form of a literary-themed variety shown. Titled “All Fines Forgiven,” the show will feature an eclectic mix of artists, novelists, poets, and musicians. What exactly will happen during the show? Who can say? Whatever happens though, it’s bound to be entertaining and provocative. Alberta Roe Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta St., 7:30pm, $11 in advance, $9 for students. Minors OK when accompanied by an adult.
MONDAY
Voicecatcher, a nonprofit community connecting and supporting female writers and in and around Portland and Vancouver, will be holding a poetry reading in honor of National Poetry Month at Glyph Café. Readers will include Tricia Knoll, Barbara Lamorticella, Donna Prinzmetal, Hannah Sams, Helen Kerner, Christine Dupress, and J Pearl Waldorf. 804 NW Couch St., 5-7pm, FREE
Literary Arts presents the fourth annual Verselandia! poetry slam in which public high school students, winners at their own schools, compete against each other for honor and glory. The host will be Turiya Autry, author of Roots, Rhyme, and Reality. Newmark Theatre, 1111 SW Broadway Ave., 7-9pm, $10
Powell’s at Cedar Hills is hosting children’s author Margaret Peterson Haddix, who will be reading from her new book The Palace of Lies, the third entry in the Palace Chronicles that continues to build off the question of what happens after the fairytale is over first asked in Just Ella and Palace of Mirrors. 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., 7pm, FREE
Peter Coyote will be at Powell’s City of Books presenting his newest memoir titled The Rainman’s Third Cure: An Irregular Education, an exploration of the opposing forces that influenced his path as an actor and later as a Zen Buddhist and the various mentors whom he met and learned from along the way. 1005 W Burnside St., 7:30pm, FREE
At Powell’s on Hawthorne, Viet Thanh Nguyen will be reading from his debut novel The Sympathizer, a spy novel exploring the lives and decisions of a general of the South Vietnamese army living in L.A. in the aftermath the Vietnam War and his trusted captain, a man with a French father, Vietnamese mother, an American education, and a spy for the Viet Cong. 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 7:30pm, FREE
TUESDAY
Jill Kelly will be at Annie Bloom’s Books reading from her new book When Your Mother Doesn’t Know, a novel about an estranged mother and her two adult daughters and an attempt at a reunion between sisters Frankie and Callie and their ailing mother Lola, and the obstacles each of them encounter as they make their way there. 7834 SW Capitol Hwy, 7-8pm, FREE
Local and award-winning author Brian Doyle will be at Broadway Books reading from his new novel Martin Marten about two residents of Mount Hood—a soon-to-be high schooler David, a pine marten named Martin—and the two journeys each of them take as they embark on new adventures and journey into unexplored territories. 1714 NE Broadway Ave., 7-8pm, FREE
Ania Ahlborn will be reading from her new supernatural thriller Within These Walls, the story of a washed-up crime writer who gets exclusive access to a cult leader and the devastating secrets he uncovers within in the walls of the cult leader’s home, at Powell's at Cedar Hills. 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., 7pm, FREE
Powell’s City of Books is celebrating the 25th anniversary of Eightball, the venerable, previously out-of-print comic series Eightball created by the multiple award-winning comics creator and filmmaker Daniel Clowes with an appearance by the man himself with the newly released two-volume set collecting all 18 issues published between 1989-1997. 1005 W Burnside St., 7:30pm, FREE
WEDNESDAY
At Powell’s at Cedar Hills, Bruce Henderson tells the story of the raid of the World War II prison camp at Los Baños in the Philippines in 1945, a feat considered to be one of the greatest military rescues in history, in his new military history book Rescue at Los Baños: The Most Daring Prison Camp Raid of World War II. 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., 7pm, FREE
Jennifer Jaquet will be at Powell’s City of Books asking the audience a question that is also the title of her book: Is Shame Necessary? Jaquet explores the perpetration of public shaming as a means for advocating for social change in today’s social media-driven universe. 1005 W Burnside St., 7:30pm, FREE
Mary Norris, proofreader at The New Yorker for over 30 years, will be at Powell’s on Hawthorne presenting her new reference book, a witty and approachable book that draws upon her decades of experience proofing people’s grammar, punctuation, spelling, and word usage, titled Between You and Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen. 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 7:30pm, FREE
THURSDAY
Chris Scofield will be reading from her YA novel The Shark Curtain, the story of Lily Asher growing up in the suburbs of Portland in the 1960s and attempting to deal with her personal life in the midst of the outrageousness of the world around her, at Annie Bloom’s Books. 7834 SW Capitol Hwy, 7-8pm, FREE
Theresa Snyder will be reading from her book We 3, a collection of stories sharing her experiences of caring for her aging parents as a member of the baby boomer generation, at Another Read Through. 3932 N Mississippi Ave., 7-8pm, FREE
Broadway Books will be hosting a discussion featuring two writers with extensive backgrounds in journalism: Maggie Messitt and Rene Denfeld. Maggie, who for 10 years covered southern Africa and middle America in her articles, has recently published a book of literary journalism titled The Rainy Season exploring three generations of individuals living in South Africa following the country’s first democratic elections. Local and award-winning author Rene Denfeld wears many hats: author, journalist, and death-penalty investigator. Previously having written four nonfiction books, she will be reading from her debut novel The Enchanted about an ancient prison, the narrator who live inside it, and those he sees walking amongst them free and unhindered as they attempt to either save or condemn the prisoners locked inside. 1714 NE Broadway Ave., 7-8pm, FREE
At Powell’s on Hawthorne, Thor Hanson will be taking the audience on a historical and scientific journey through the wonderfully diverse world of seeds, and the momentous impact seeds and the cultivation thereof have had on humanity’s survival and evolution in his book titled The Triumph of Seeds. This event is sponsored by Edible Portland. 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 7:30pm, FREE
Christian Hagesath, founder and chairman of Green Man Cannabis, the fastest-growing marijuana company in the country, will be presenting his new book Big Weed at Powell’s City of Books and discussing the current wild west that is current domain of the legalized marijuana industry as states and businesses attempt to quickly set up rules, regulations, and industry standards following the drug’s legalization in several states. 1005 W Burnside St., 7:30pm, FREE
FRIDAY
In Other Words will be hosting a poetry reading by women from the Pacific Northwest whose poems have been published in Dancing Girl Press’ chapbook series. The night will also include a release party for Laura Christina Dunn’s chapbook Spider Blue. 14 NE Killingsworth St., 7-10pm, FREE
Also on Friday, Heidi Julavits will be at Powell’s City of Books reading from her diary-turned-autobiography The Folded Clock. Inspired by her stumbling upon her childhood diaries, she decided to try again as a forty-something woman to chronicle her daily experiences, a work that ends up taking a very different shape than her childhood diaries. 1005 W Burnside St., 7:30pm, FREE
SUNDAY
On Sunday, it’s going to be quite a circus at Another Read Through. In celebration of Shakespeare’s birthday, local author Cindy Brown will be reading from her book Macdeath, a mystery novel set in a theatre featuring the death of a cast member on opening night. Joining her will be members of both the Oregon Actors Ensemble who will be putting on a short performance from Macbeth, and the Oregon Fencing Alliance, who will be giving a sword fight demonstration. 3932 N Mississippi Ave., 1:30-3pm, FREE
Finally on Sunday, Sandy Tolan will be at Powell’s City of Books reading from the nonfiction account Children of the Stone. Ramzi Hussain Aburedwan grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp, learned how to play music, and who dreamed of starting a music school in the refugee camp, and how this dream was achieved with the help of several people, including Daniel Barenboim, Israeli musician and international music director. 1005 W Burnside St., 7:30pm, FREE
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